IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Oil rigs exploding; Volcanoes erupting; Senate Climate Legislation coming --- soon ... PLUS: On the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, a look back at the very first one... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

ERUPTION DISRUPTION Continued: Long-term Impacts of the Eruption of Eyjafjallajokull:

A government bailout for airlines after Iceland volcano?: Citing the government bailout after the Sept. 11 shutdown of US airspace, European airlines are seeking government compensation over groundings caused by the ash cloud released from an Iceland volcano. So are some stranded passengers. (Christian Science Monitor)

On Earth Day's 40th anniversary, a different world: Denis Hayes, coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970, discusses the challenges for the environmental movement and prospects for global warming legislation in today's changed political climate. (LA Times)

The People's World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights: Bolivia's Morales slams capitalist debt to global warming: Bolivian President Evo Morales opened a "people's conference" on climate change on Tuesday with an attack on capitalism's debt to global warming, before participants booed a UN envoy. (AP)

Cash for appliances program starts Thursday: The government is offering rebates on energy-saving appliances: $200 for refrigerators, $100 for clothes washers and $50 for air conditioners. Some stores will open early Thursday. (LA Times)

Right now, my challenge is to orchestrate this in a way that “Avatar” can continue to do some good. I think the movie itself is reaching people all over the world, which it clearly did by the amount of money it made. It created a sense of an emotional response to this environmental crisis and I think it even may have made it an emotional call to action. The next step is people need to know what to do --- what do I specifically do in my life next so that I don’t feel helpless and powerless.
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Well, I think it makes certain projects that I liked as potential films seem trivial by comparison. I think it makes the idea of making another “Avatar” film more attractive. Because not only is it good business, but it’s good for the environment. I think every model we should use in evaluating any environmental project moving forward should be: Is it good business and is it good for the environment? Because there’s this idea promoted by the right and by special interest groups that you have to choose. You can either have a strong economy or you can help the environment, but you can’t do both at the same time. That’s ridiculous.

GM SOY LINKED TO STERILITY, INFANT MORTALITY
More details have emerged of the Russian GM soy feeding trial we reported in last week’s Weekly Watch. Scientists fed hamsters for two years over three generations. Those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups.

And if this isn't shocking enough, some in the third generation even had hair growing inside their mouths – a phenomenon rarely seen, but apparently more prevalent among hamsters eating GM soy.

The study, jointly conducted by Surov's Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Association for Gene Security, is expected to be published in three months (July 2010).

One of the researchers, Russian biologist Alexey V. Surov, said, "We have no right to use GMOs until we understand the possible adverse effects, not only to ourselves but to future generations as well. We definitely need fully detailed studies to clarify this."http://www.gmwatch.org/i...iew=article&id=12160